The Best of 1507, maybe...

Picasso's Woman with a Cigarette, Barnes Foundation,
from www.famous-painters.org

You won't find any Best of 2007 lists here, friends. Only a favorite line from probably my favorite album (of the few new albums I listened to) of the past year:

"And if the whole world’s singing your songs/And all of your paintings have been hung/Just remember what was yours is everyone’s from now on..."

–Wilco (Jeff Tweedy) from What Light, on Sky Blue Sky.

I also, spurred on by the decisions made by Rob Matthews, et al, have come to the conclusion I need some more discipline in my blogging career. Along that line, I've decided to write a short weekly essay on an artwork or object (will most often end up being a painting) here at the Barnes Foundation. There are several reasons why this has come to mind: for one, I've always wanted to do this, after hearing about a famous 20th century art critic (Greenberg, I think??) mention visiting the Metropolitan Museum of Art during his lunchtime, sitting in front of and absorbing a single artwork. I admired this as a discipline that could bring many good dividends. Also, the subjects are readily available; they are only upstairs. And thirdly, it will be a challenge: I will not be able to reproduce the images, so I will need to describe them so fully that an illustration should (ostensibly) not be necessary for the reader. This will be a challenge for my writing skills. Another obvious benefit which comes with all study of art history is to my own art-making.

At this point, I'm already a week behind, so I'm going to just begin this week with a painting from the collection, and call last week a break. Stay tuned!